Research

Initial research exploring the spaces, textures, colours and movements in the Scottish Highlands. I want to explore how humans connect to land and how this manifests in artistic practices. I hope I can create a process that allows me to reconnect with the land and the essentials of life. A huge part of my Scottish experience is to do with water in some way, so for this project I want to continue the research and development I started on my exchange in New Mexico: to explore the human relationship with water; through body, space, time and movement. Scotland is a very different environment compared to the desert of NM but the contrast will be interesting to explore.

I like to use films as a medium in which to capture the movements and shapes of water in all its different forms. I find it a effective and beautiful way of documenting the element.

I often focus on the details in the landscape, where the colours and textures often go unnoticed.

Hiking around Arrochar:
Ben Narnain
Ben Ime
Ben Arther (The Cobbler)

Steall Waterfall and Ben Nevis

Short films I made from my week trip to Orkney. More research into the details in the landscape that capture my attention.

Films, Sculpture and Projections

During my exchange and over lockdown I have been experimenting with projecting my films into spaces I have constructed to create immersive installations. I am interesting in the interaction between moving images and objects and want to incorporate this more into my practice

‘Garden in fragments’ is an abstract exploration of the colours and textures in my garden, using mainly close ups and superimposition to capture forgotten moments and movements. The projected film was shot in 16mm while the presented version has been film and edited digitally.

The film is an experiment in the interaction between moving image and sculpture, while the final edit explores how the movement and spatial qualities of sculpture can be translated into film.

The aim for this project is to make it relatable; exploring the spaces close to us, using an object recognisable to everyone in a new and innovative way, challenging our perceptions and demonstrating how everything and anything can be used to make art.

Taking away any contextual information, e.g. just filming close ups, forces the viewer to really focus on the patterns. This then leads to thoughts about what could be happening to create that particular pattern, is there an object just out of shot? Is it the wind? I liked this questioning dialogue and found it a useful way to expand the conversation to water in general.

Shape and texture observations. Looking at the details for inspiration later on.

Development:

A quick experiment editing together the clips taken at Troon. I have layered them up so the contrasting movements and patterns are present in the same frame. This is a simple way of creating a more interesting shot and can make beautiful overlaps between the individual films.

I have then started experimenting with a mini project and the films. Sticking with the water development I projected into a bucket in the sink. The running water interrupts the image, creating even more movement. I am interested in different ways a set frame can be disturbed and how this changes the meaning or significance of the projected piece. The ripples from the tap bring this 3D element into play and mirror the ripples in the actual film. It was a good way to tie the subject of the video to how it is presented.

I also tried projecting one of my more edited films where the images are less abstract. Again this was a exercise in how water would distort the picture, I also wanted to see what compositions would come out from this interaction between water and light.

'You get into air that is refreshing and free. You liberate yourself from that tacit assumption of your everyday life'

-Stephen Graham, The Gentle Art of Tramping

'We need wild places because they remind us of a world beyond the human'

-Robert Macfarlane, The Wild Paces

'Reconnecting people and the land is as essential as reestablishing proper hydrology or cleaning up contaminants. It is medicine for the earth.'

-Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

'Being at home in the unknown'
-Rebecca Solnit, A field Guide to Getting Lost

‘I feel in touch with the elements in a way I never do indoors'

-Roger Deakin, Wildwood: A Journey Through the Trees

'The mountain gives itself most completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend but to be with him'

-Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain

‘There is another way to live, on terms of greater intimacy with the woods and land - slower, more deliberate and benign: a quiet assertion of greenwood values’

-Roger Deakin, Wildwood: A Journey Through the Trees

Taking the opportunity of a trip to Bute to make another film. This time I used a iphone and a gimbal. I liked that I could get more steady shots and the quality is pretty good. It was able to capture the amazing sunset. This is a rough edit of the highlights of the trips and again I was playing around with a different style of editing: shorter shots interspaced with longer moving shots.

Details from the Hidden Garden that I thought were very beautiful and wanted to capture.

Tracing Paper Projections

Here I have been experimenting with tracing paper drawings done on Bute and the film I made. I like this idea of using layers to create different surfaces for the film to be projected on, bringing a more spatial quality. Experienced in real like the interaction between the moving image and the tracing paper is interesting and creates moments between light and object that aren't present when just viewing a film on a flat screen. I thought the tracing paper would allow some of the light through creating a blurring image on the surface behind but it was actually too opaque.

I liked the idea of justing drawings done on site as a way of linking back to the film and place. The marks create another layer to the images already there and add a bit of depth. Sometimes the drawings and film work well together but sometime it can become to messy as well.

I've been thinking about how water is a powerful force in creating shapes and patterns in the earth. I want to try and capture that energy water has in a 3 dimensional object. I began by experimenting with melted pewter poured into different forms of water: a bowl of water, a jug and running water. I think the pewter has been successful in capturing the different characteristics water and I like how they tell a story of the specific water form used for casting.

I would like to develop this by doing this experiment in natural bodies of water and observing any differences.

I like how I don't have much control over what shapes are created and the objects formed have a true organic quality. It feels like this process is a collaboration with the water.

Location: Kelvin river where it flows through Kelvingrove park.

Conditions (1st form): dropped from about 5cm above the waters surface into a sieve under the water

Conditions (2nd form): dropped into the shallows where the water meets the shore in waves (sandy)

Location: Lochwinnoch, Castle Semple Loch

Conditions (1st form): Dropped from 5cm above the water onto the bottom of the loch (about 5-10cm down, sandy)

Conditions (2nd/3rd form): Dropped from about the hight of 30cm into slightly deeper water

Location: Balloch, Loch Lomond

Conditions: Dropped from 10cm above the water onto the bottom of the loch (stony)

Location: River Calder, Lochwinnoch

Conditions: poured in a sideways motion from about 5cm above the surface (stony bottom)

Experimenting with mixing sounds from recordings taken on trips or with the sounds from the video clips.

More water samples. I have been recording photos and videos where the water has particularly interested me, either because of a certain pattern, light reflection or specific form it has taken.

All theses little moments of inspiration help me build up ideas for my next film and develop new concepts around form, sequence and narrative.

I had gathered lots of material on all the places I had been and had filmed and edited quite a few videos but I wanted to come up with a concept that drew all my experience together in one piece. I didn't feel like one place or one film stood out to me more than the rest. This term has been about experiment with filmmaking within the context of landscape and place, but I have deliberately not let myself be restricted to one site in Scotland as a but a big part of my development process has been about letting the atmosphere of each individual place influence the feel of the final film. I was inspired by Ilana Halperin's hand drawn floor plan on her website, each room becomes a link to a different artwork, to create my own map. My map brings together my experiences this semester through a drawing of Scotland, where I have used different icons to highlight the paces I have been. These icons are also links to films, drawings and the pewter sculptures depending on what I created at that site. At first I wanted each place to lead just to a specific film about the location but I then decided to include every trip I have been on this year, even if I didn't make a film there, as they have all help contribute to my experiences this term. Up to this point I have looked at this year in terms of broadening my knowledge of filmmaking alongside my understanding of Scotlands landscapes and I think the map is an effective way of encapsulating this in one realised piece. I want the viewer to be able to explore these places visually and build up their own journey.

Ilana Halperin
Screenshot from her website:
http://www.ilanahalperin.com/new/map.html

Process of making the map. I experimented with a few different version and different icons. I used google drawings to make a PDF document where each icon is a link which would take the viewer to a film, drawing or the pewter sculptures created in that location.

The final version. Links only working in the PDF version. This is the finished map, every place has its own icon that I developed depending on the site and inspired the film of each place. I decided to use tracing paper to layer the sites on top of the drawing of Scotland as this made them stand out more. Different coloured icons against the more realistic background also helps them stand out and makes it a bit more exciting.